Cabinet or the like



Nov. 13, 1945. KA|5ER 2,388,978

CABINET OR THE LIKE Filed Sept. 19, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 13, 1945. K SE 2,388,978

I CABINET OR THE LIKE Filed Sept. 19, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I VII/I/I/Il/I/l/l/li; '.'IIllIIIIIIIIIlIIIIIII/IIIIIIIIf! Patented Nov. 13, 1945 2,388,978 CABINET on THE LIKE Ludwig Kaiser, New Haven, Conn. Application September 19, 1944, Serial No. 554,810

12 Claims.

This invention relates to cabinets and more particularly to a cocktail cabinet or the like designed to be constructed to contain glasses, flasks,

bottles, or other containers in positions concealed from view when the cabinet is in closed position, and provided with doors or closure members movable simultaneously to open position to expose the various glasses, bottles, etc., for easy access.

In a cabinet of this character, it is desirable that the device present an ornate appearance so as to be used as an article of furniture whereever desired, and to be arranged so that it may be readily and conveniently closed to conceal the contents and to protect the contents against dust. At the same time it is desirable that it be readily opened to expose not only thevarious kinds of glasses which may be desired, but alsothe bottles, flasks, or liquor-containing elements.

For this purpose the cabinet illustrated is prvided with a plurality of doors or panels which may be moved to open position, either to give access to the interior of the cabinet orto move articles supported upon the movable members tov a position where they will be readily accessible.

One object of the present invention is to provide a cabinet of the character described which may be readily closed to present an ornate appearance and to protect its contents and which, at the same time, may be completely opened in one operation for exposing the contents of the cabinet to render the latter accessible for use.

Stillanother object of the invention is to provide a cocktail cabinet having sliding doors or panels at the front, hinged leaves upon each end wall, a tray mounted for vertical movement in the upper portion of the cabinet and an opening in the top of the cabinet designed to be closed by oppositely movable panels, all of these parts being so connected that when the oppositely movable panels at the top of the cabinet are moved to open position, the tray, the slidable front doors and the leaves upon the end walls will also be moved to open position.

To these and other ends the invention relates to the novel features and combination of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet embodying my improvements;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a front'elevational view of the cabinet in closed position, certain parts bein broken away for the sake of clearness;

'Fig. 4 is a sectional view on 'line'4'4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 butshowing.

the cabinet in open position;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line B-6 of Fig. 5,

: certain parts being omitted for the sake of clearness; and

Fig; 7 is a sectional view on line 'li of Fig.6. To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention I have shown a cabinet provided with a base It, a rear wall ll, end walls 12, a top I3,

and a front wall or section designated generally by the numeral M. The cabinet is divided into upper and lower sections or compartments by.

a partition member. I5 which extends between the member l5 are movable sections or slide members it and 11, these sections being provided with recesses/l8 and 9 to accommodate a block upon the partition I5 when the sections I6 and I1 are in closed position, the block 29 being of substantially the same-thickness as that of the members l6 and H. The latter two members are connected by a series of links 2|, 22 and 23, the

link 22 being pivoted at 24 to the block 20 and pivoted at its ends to the adjacent ends of the links 2| and 23, which latter links are pivoted at theirends as shown at 25 and 26 to the seci tions [6 and I1 respectively.

It will be seen that when the members l6 and I I are moved back and forth, equal movement in opposite directions will be assured by the links 2|, 22 and 23 so that these members will move evenly from the open position shown in Fig. 6

to the closed position wherein the recesses l8 and I9 embrace the block 20. I! are also provided respectively with recesses 21 and 28 and the member [5 is provided with'openings 29 and 30 for a purpose to be described hereinafter.

Secured to the member I6 are a pair of spaced rails 31 and a pair of closely set rails 32, and likewise spaced rails 33 and closely set rails 34 are secured to the member ll. One of the rails 3| isprovided with a cam surface 35 and a similar cam surface 36 is provided upon oneof the rails- 32 (Fig. 6). Similarly, the inner rail 33 is provided with a cam surface 31 and the inner of the rails 34 is provided with a cam sur-v face 38. These cam surfaces are shown more,

particularly in Figs. 3 and-5 where it will be seenthat they are inclined surfaces facing in opposite directions, and in the closed position shown in Fig. 3 these cam surfaces are spaced a considerable distance apart so that a land or The members l6 andlevel portion 39 (Fig. 3) is provided between them upon the rails.

Upon this land rests a tray 40, this tray being provided with a pair of depending dowels or pins 4| adapted to enter the openings 29 and 3D in the member l5 which, it will be recalled, is secured to the walls of the cabinet, thus permitting the tray 40 a vertical movement upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 3, the dowel pins 4| engaging in the openings 29 and 30 and acting as guides durhig this movement. -'I'his movement, it will be obvious, will be effected by outand 4, so that when the member I8 is moved to the left, the door 52 will be moved to the left and likewise when the member I1 is moved to the right, the door 53 will be correspondingly moved. Thus from the foregoing, it will be seen that when the panels 44 are moved to open position, the rails upon which the cam members 35, 36, 31, 38 are formed will be moved to caus the elevation of the tray 48 and likewise the members l6 and I 'I connected to these rails will be moved in an equal amount in opposite direction due to ward movement of the members l6 and H which a move the cam surfaces 35 and 36 in one direp-- tion and the cam surfaces 31 and 38 in the other direction, the inclined faces of these cam surfaces moving toward each other from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Rig. 5 so as to effect the upward camming of the tray or shelf 40 to the position shown in Fig. 5. 'Movement of theslide members l6 and H in the opposite direction or toward each other from the position shown in Fig. '6 will permit the tray 40 to descend under it own weight guided by the pins 4|. It will be apparent that movement of the cam surfaces 36 and 3'] toward each other, for example, will be effected by moving the slide members l6 and I1 away from each other due to the fact that the cam surfaces on one side of the cabinet are connected to the plate at the other .side. It may also be stated that the tray or shelf 40 may be employed to support glasses which may be secured thereon in any suitable way, and when this tray is moved to the upper position shown in Fig. 5, these glasses will be moved to a position accessible from the top of the cabinet as will now be described.

The top of the cabinet is provided with an opening 43, which opening is designed to be closed by apair of slidin panels 44 having knobs 45 secured'thereto by which they may be manipulated. These panels 44 extend through slots 46 in the end walls of the cabinet so that by grasping the knobs 45, they may be moved from the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 3, for example, to the position shown in Fig. 5. These panels are of T-shaped form as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6 and one is secured to the outer one of the rails 33 and to the outer rail 34 '(Fig. 4)., and at the other end of the cabinet the other is correspondingly secured to outer rail 32 and outer rail 3|. Thus it will be seen that when the panels 44 are moved to open position, the rails will likewise be moved so that the cam surfaces will approach each other and raise the tray or shelf 40 to the position shown in Fig. 5 where it will lie directly below the opening 43 which is now uncovered by the panels 44 as shown in Fig. 5. Also at this time it will be seen from Fig. 5 that the panels 44 extend from the end edges of the top l3 .of the cabinet to provide shelves.

Within the lower portion. of the cabinet below the partition is a revolving shelf member or turret 48 (Fig. 4), this member being rotatably supported at its upper and lower ends upon blocks 49 and 50. In order. to provide .access to this member in the lower portions of the cabinet, the front section 14 is provided with an opening 5|, which opening is normally closed by -a pair of slidably movable doors or panel members '52 and 53,. the opening .5! lying between side sections 54 which form a stationary part of the front wall l4. The doors '52 and 53 are secured respectively to the members l6 and." as shown in Figs. 3

the linkage 21, 22 and 23 and the members l6 and I1 being secured to the doors will likewise move the doors to open position.

in reechbf the end walls I2 of the cabinet is 1a leaf 55 hinged to the end wall at 55, these leaves being adapted to swing from closed position shown in Figs. 2 and 3 to open position shown in Fig. 5, and having mounted thereon racks 55 having openings for glasses 51, which glasses may be held in place by wires 58 extending thereover so that the glasses will be held securely in position during the swinging movement of the leaves55.

In, order to connect the leaves 55 to the doors 52 and 53 so that they may be opened simultaneously with the doors and simultaneously with the othermovements heretofore described, a bell crank lever is pivoted at 63 at each end of the cabinet to ablock Bl secured to one of the sections 54 of the front wall. One of the arms 52 of one of the bell crank levers .is provided witha slot 63 within which is received a pin54 upon a bracket 65 secured to the door or panel 53 (Fig. 3). The other arm 66 of this bell crank lever is provided with a slot v6! slidably receiving a pin .68 secured upon a bracket 69 secured to one of the leaves .55. It will be noted that .the end of the leaf to which the member 69 .is secured lies below the hinge when the leaf is in closed position as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. It will also be apparent that when the door 53 is moved to the right from the position shown in Fig. '3, the bell crank lever will be moved about its pivot to the position shown in Fig. '5 which will effect the swinging of the leaf 55 to the open position shown in the latter view. It will be understood that a similar bell crank lever is provided at the other end wall of the cabinet and is similarly connected to the leaf '55 at the other end and to the door '52.

The turret 48 comprises a series-of spacedhorizontal members of generally circular shape connected by radially extending vertical members to rovide a lurality of compartments T0 and when the doors 52 and 53-are moved to open position, the fiasksor bottles upon the shelves of the turret will "be readily accessible for removal from the cabinet. Also'the turret may be manually rotated sothat any one of the compartments 10 will be opposite the opening 5 l It will .be seen that the cabinet when in closed position as shown in Fig. 1 presents a neat and ornate appearance and constitutes a pleasing article of furniture. At the same time there may be contained within the cabinet glasses, bottles or other articles in concealed positions where they will be protected from-dust. It will also be apparent that anyone wishing to use any of the articles within the cabinet, by grasping the knobs .45 and sliding the panels 44 from the position shown in Fig. 3 to thatshown in Fig. 5, willefor tray 40, and will likewise move the plates .16

and I! connected to the underside of these cam rails. Also an equal movement of the plates {6 and I! will be elfected by means of the linkage therebetween. As the doors 52 and 53 are secured to the plateslG and I1 respectively, the doors will be opened by movement of these plates and as the doors are connected to the leaves 55 by the bell crank levers 62, 66, the leaves will be swung to open position when the doors are opened. Thus by one movement, the user effects the conversion of the cabinet from its closed position sh'own in Fig. 1 to the open position shown in Fig. 3. Likewise, a reverse movement of the panels 44 from their open to closed position causes a reverse movement of the parts and effects the closing of the cabinet, thus restoring the parts to their original position.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims,

- What I claim is:

1. A cabinet or like structure having a top section, a front section, and end wall sections, said top section having an opening therein, oppositely movable panel members closing said opening, a leaf hinged to each of said end sections, and means connecting said panel members to said leaves to eifect swinging of the latter about their hinges when said panels are moved.

2. A cabinet or like structure havinga top section, a front section, and end wall sections, said top section having an opening therein, oppositely movable panel members closing said opening, a leaf hinged to each of said end sections, said front section having an openin therein, oppositely movable doors on said front section closing said opening, means connecting said panels to said doors to effect movement of the latter when the former are moved, and means connecting said doors to the leaf members to swing the latter about their hinges when the doors are moved.

3. A cabinet or like structure having a top section, a front section, and end wall sections, said top section having an opening therein, oppositely movable panel members closing said opening, a leaf hinged to each of said end sections, said front section having an opening therein, oppositely movable doors on said front section closing said opening, means connecting said panels to said doors to eifect movement of the latter when the former are moved, and means connecting said doors to the leaf members to swing the latter about their hinges when the doors are moved, said last-named means comprising bell crank levers pivoted to the cabinet and each having one end connected to a leaf and the other end connected to a door.

4. A cabinet or like structure having a top section, a front section, and end wall sections, said top section having an opening therein, oppositely movable panel members closing said opening, a leaf hinged to each of said end sections, said front section having an opening therein, oppositely movable doors on said front section closing said opening, means connecting said panels to said doors to effect movement of the latter when the former are moved, and means connecting said doors to the leaf members to swing the latter about their hinges when the doors are moved, said 1ast-named means comprising bell crank levers pivoted to the cabinet and each having one end connected to a leaf and the other end connected toa door, and the connectionsof said levers with the leaves and doors comprising pin-and-slot connections. 1

5. A cabinet or like structure having atop section, a front section, and end wall sections, said top section having an opening therein, oppositely movable panel members closing said opening, said front'section having an opening therein, oppositely movable doors normally closing said openings, a tray mounted below the top opening for vertical movement, and means to effect raising of said tray and the opening of said doors by the movement of the panels.

6. A cabinet or like structure having a top section, a front section, and end wall sections, said top section having an opening therein, oppositely movable panel members closing said opening, a plurality of. rails movably mounted in the cabinet below said opening having cam elements thereon, certain of said rails being connected to each of the panels, a vertically movable tray mounted above said rails and resting thereon between-said cam elements in the closed position of the panel members, and said cam elements beingmoved toward each other during opposite move-' ment of the respective rails into engagement with the tray to elevate the latter when said panels are moved to open position. v

7. A cabinet or like structure having a top section, a front section, and end wall sections, said top section having an opening therein, oppositely movable panel members closing said opening, a plurality of rails movably mounted in the cabinet below said opening having cam elements thereon, certain of said rails being connected to each of the panels, a vertically movable tray. mounted above said rails and resting th'ereon between said cam elements in the closed position of the panel members, and said cam elements being moved toward each other during opposite movements of the respective rails into engagement with the tray to elevate the latter when said panels are moved to open position, said front section having an opening therein, doors on the front section of the cabinet closing said opening, and means connecting said doors to said rails to also move the doors when the panels are opened.

'8. A cabinet or like structure having a top section, a front section, and end wall sections, said top section having an opening therein, oppositely movable panel members closing said opening, a plurality of rails movably mounted in the cabinet below said opening having cam elements thereon, certain of said rails being connected to each of the panels, a vertically movable tray mounted above said rails and resting thereon between said cam elements in the closed position of the panel members, and said cam elements being moved toward each other during opposite movements of the respective rails into engagement with the tray to elevate the latter when said panels are moved to open position, said front section having an opening therein, doors on the front section of the cabinet closing said opening, means connecting said doors, to said rails to also move the doors when the panels are opened, a leaf movably mounted upon each end wall section of the cabinet, and means connecting said leaves to the doors to move the latter when the doors are moved. a 9. A cabinet or like structure having a top section, a front section, and end wall sections, said top section having an opening therein, oppositely movable panel members closing said opening, a plurality of rails movably mounted in the cabinet below said :opening having 10am" elements thereon, certain of said rails being ;connected to each of the panels, a, vertically movable tray mounted above said rails and resting thereon between said cam elements in the closed position of thepanel members, and said cam elements being moved toward each other duringopposite movements :of the respective rails into engagement with "the tray to elevate the latter when said panels are moved to open pos'rtioman'd means to insure equal movement of the-rails connected to one panel relatively to those connected to the otherpanel.

10. A cabinet or like structure having .a top section, a front section, and end wall sections, a partition member in said cabinet below said top section and spaced therefrom, a'pair of oppositely movable slide members supported on said'partition, rails, certain of which are connected to each of said slide members, a tray mounted" in the cabinet for vertical movement and disposed above said rails, the topsection of said cabinet having an opening therein, oppositely movable panel members normally closing said opening, 'eachof said panel members being also connected to .certain'of said rails whereby movement of said panel members moves certain of said rails in opposite directions and also said slide members in opposite directions, and means on said rails to efiect raising of said tray to a position immediately below the top opening during opening movement of the panel members.

11. A cabinet or like structure having a top section, a front section, and end wall sections, a partition member in said cabinet below said top section and spaced therefrom, a pair of oppositely movable slide members supported on said partition, rails, certain of which areconnected :to each. of said slide members, atray mountedinthe cabinet for vertical movement and disposed above said rails, the top section of .said cabinet having an opening therein, oppositely movable panel members normally closing said opening, each of said panel members being also connected to certam ofsaidrails wherebymovement oi-said panel members moves certain'oi saidrails in opposite directions and also said slidemembers in opposite directions, and means on said rails "to effect raising: of said tray to a position immediately below the top opening during opening movement of the panel members, the front section of the cabinet having an opening therein, oppositely movable door members normally closing said opening, and each oi said door members being secured to one of said slide members whereby the door members will be moved with the slide members. l

' 12. A cabinet or like structure having a top section, 'a front section, and end wall sections, a partition member in said cabinet below said top sectionand spaced therefrom, a pair of oppositely movable slidemem'bers supported on said partition, rails, certain of which are connected to each" of said slide members, a tray mounted'in the cabinet 'for vertical movement and disposed above said rails, the top section of said cabinet having an opening therein, oppositely movable panel members normally closing said opening, each'of said panel members being also connected to certa'in of said rails whereby-movement of said panel members moves certain of said rails in'opposite directions and also said slide members in opposite directions, means on said rails to eiiect raising of said tray to a position immediately below the top opening during opening movement of the panel members, the from: section of the cabinet having an opening therein, oppositely movable door members normally closing said opening, and each of said door members being secured to one of said slide members whereby the door members will be moved with the slide members, a leaf hinged upon each end wall of the cabinet, and means connecting each of said doors to one of said leaves whereby the leaves will be swung about their hinges when the doors are moved.

lJUDW'IG KAISER. 

